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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG TD TF 1500 - British Motoring Winter 2012

I received the Winter 2012 edition of British Motoring and it had a very interesting article by Kathleen Mangan about her TR8 restoration project going not so well.
It made me think back about my bad experience with a TR7 I was restoring years ago and finally ditched the project after a shady body guy and his son made a total mess of several years of collecting and buying parts.
I learned a good lesson and the TD project has moved along a little better, except for the body and paint work costing twice the original estimate!
Oh well, anyone else in the group have any good learning experiences they would like to share?

Regards,
Rich
Richard Taylor TD3983

Methinks that there is a problem with paint and body guys smelling to many fumes from their work. I hired mine out in Dec, to be done in June, got the body back in Oct. To top it off, the color was a little off from what I had given the guy.
Tom Maine (TD8105)

I thought my TD rebuild would take six months and cost about $15,000. It took almost six years and cost a whole lot more.

What we all know, I think, from bitter experience, is that we would have been financially better off to buy a totally restored car. The flip side of that is that when you buy someone else's completed project, you haven't sweated the details or personalized the project.

So most of us will be dumb enough to do it again, I think, just because we want to put our own stamp on something that previously was just a rusty lump. The best advice we can give any of our colleagues, I think, is to deal with suppliers and mechanics and painters and other experts who are known to the LBC/MG community. You get what you pay for, and we've all found out that good deals are often the exact opposite.

A few years ago I was looking at two Series 1-1/2 E-Type coupes. One was a running restoration project at $15,000, and the other was totally finished with a 5-speed for $40,000. The Jag guy I brought along for wisdom told me that, in the end, the 40K car would be about $20,000 cheaper than a completed restoration.

That's about the way it really is, isn't it.

Cheers from the Great White North,
Dave
Dave Jorgensen

Dave, I agree with you on buying already done. Speaking of which, another member of our club is selling his nice TD. If anyone is interested, you can see it on the MNMGTR website. no financial intrest etc.
Tom Maine (TD8105)

Though I am questioning my own sanity I am starting on my third restoration. First was the '59 MGA, then the '54 TF and now a '66 B-GT. Each has been a learning experience. The two that I finished took five years each; the only way to look at it, is that it keeps me out of the neighborhood bars.
David Werblow

This thread was discussed between 06/01/2012 and 07/01/2012

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